Graduate Liberal Studies

SOCS 638Religion in Film

Peter Gottschalk

Please note: Most readings and some films must be completed before the
week of class. Please note the questions posed at the beginning of each
reading list as these should read each book or article partly in an effort
to answer these questions for yourself.

Course Calendar

MONDAY - MYTH & CHRISTIANITYWhat is a myth? What distinguishes myth from other forms of
narrative? How is it that Christians can portray the life of Jesus in such
starkly divergent ways?

Please prepare the night before class: Reader: Bill Moyers, “Of Myth and Men” (4pp)
Reader: Nikos Kazantzakis, from The Last Temptation of Christ (4pp)
Reader: selections from popular media coverage of The Last Temptation of
Christ (20pp)

We will watch these together in class:“The Last Temptation of Christ” (Scorsese, 1988)
“The Passion” (Gibson, 2004)

TUESDAY - MYTH, SCIENTISM, & PARADIGMSHow have modern ways of knowing affected the ways in which humans
understand the cosmos? What distinguishes a myth from scientific fact? How
do both figure into paradigms?

Please prepare the night before class:Reader: James D. Tabor, “Religious Discourse and Failed
Negotiations” (16pp)
Reader: David Koresh, “The Seven Seals of the Book of Revelation” (10pp)
Reader: “Transcript: David Koresh and FBI Negotiators, April 16 and 18, 1993
(10pp)

We will watch these together in class:“The Apostle” (Duvall, 1997)
“My Son the Fanatic” (Prasad, 1997)

Please note (again): most readings and some films
must be completed before the week of class. Please note the questions posed
at the beginning of each reading list as these should read each book or
article partly in an effort to answer these questions for yourself.

Required Texts

Gerald Larsen, Summer for the GodsPhilip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?Chaim Potak, In the BeginningReader - Available at Suburban Card and Gift located in Metro Square,
downtown Middletown. Please call before arriving to ensure availability of
the volume.